Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Follow local players as they play for their colleges and universities By MICHAEL BOYLAN Though we love watching our local football players acheive glory on the gridirons close to home, it is often even more exciting when they are performing well for colleges around the nation. Fayette County has a number of former residents playing football for their respective colleges and universities and The Citizen pledges to follow them during the 2005 season and update readers on how they are doing. If a player is missing from this list, please e-mail the name of the player and the school he is attending and playing for. Darrell Burston - A Starrs Mill graduate now at Florida State University, Burston, a defensive end, had one solo tackle, one assist, one tackle for a loss and one quarterback hurry last year. He has impressed coaches this spring and took home the Iron Nole Award after spring drills. Burston is expected to start this year as the Seminoles left defensive end. John Deraney - A Fayette County High School graduate now at North Carolina State who was just one of 10 players nationally last year to perform all kicking duties for his school last year. Deraney, the teams MVP Specialist for last season, was 29 for 29 in extra points and 13 of 22 in field goals. He punted for 2,514 yards last season and in two years of performing all kickoff duties for the Wolf Pack 59 of his 114 kickoffs were touchbacks. Jason Earwood - A Starrs Mill graduate who will start at linebacker for the Georgia Southern Eagles this season. Earwood had nine solo tackles, eight assists, three tackles for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble as well as one interception returned for 12 yards. Johnny Edwards - Edwards graduated from Starrs Mill High School and will be one of two starting cornerbacks for Wake Forest University from Fayette County this fall. Edwards had five solo tackles and three assists last season for the Demon Deacons. Kedric Golston - Golston, a Sandy Creek graduate, is a starting defensive tackle for the University of Georgia. He had 12 solo tackles, 11 assists, 16 quarterback hurries, 2.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks for the Bulldogs last season. Philip Hyde - Hyde, a Sandy Creek graduate playng for Samford University, rushed for 320 yards in 10 games for the Bulldogs last season. He ran for two touchdowns and his longest run of the season was for 49 yards. Chris James - A Starrs Mill graduate kicking for Western Kentucky University, James was 34 for 34 in extra point attempts and nine for 12 in field goal attempts. Calvin Johnson - Johnson, a Sandy Creek High School graduate, made a huge splash last year as a wide receiver for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last season. Johnson was a four time ACC Rookie of the Week and was also the ACC Rookie of the Year, a first team Freshmen All-American and a member of the first team All ACC team. Johnson recorded 48 catches for 837 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season. They were all freshman records at Georgia Tech. Will Judson - Judson, a Sandy Creek graduate, was a punt and kick returner for Florida A&M University last year. He ran back 16 punts for 94 yards and 35 kickoffs for a total of 677 yards. His longest punt return was 24 yards and his longest kick return was 39 yards. J.R. Lemon - Lemon, a Sandy Creek graduate, started seven games for Stanford University last year. He ran for 440 yards and six touchdowns and his longest run of the season was 82 yards. Locals who should get a chance to shine this year for their schools are: Deante Battle (Starrs Mill) - A cornerback at Northwestern University James Bouie (Fayette County) - A center at Georgia Southern Brian Brown (Sandy Creek) - A linebacker at the University of Delaware Charles Castleberry (McIntosh) - A fullback at the University of Minnesota, Crookston RiChard Davis (Fayette County) - A quarterback at Georgia Southern Reggie Ellington (Sandy Creek) - A running back at Charleston Southern University Andrew Gardner (Sandy Creek) - An offensive lineman at Georgia Tech Michael Gates (Sandy Creek) - A tight end for Mississippi State University Ryan Gloer (Starrs Mill) - A linebacker at Shorter College Teddy Gregory (Sandy Creek) - An offensive lineman at Valdosta State University Gerren Griffin (Sandy Creek) A wide receiver at James Madison University Kenneth James (Starrs Mill) - A defensive back at Shorter College Michael Lockett (Sandy Creek) - A defensive lineman for Wake Forest University Jonathan Loving (Fayette County) - An offensive lineman at Georgia Southern Demetric McDonald (Sandy Creek) - A tight end at Shorter College Bernard Michel (Our Lady of Mercy) - A defensive lineman at Shorter College Alex Mortensen (Landmark Christian) - A quarterback at the University of Arkansas Hart Pearson (Fayette County) - A kicker at Charleston Southern University Andy Smith (Starrs Mill) - An offensive guard for the University of Memphis
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